The Truths Hidden Behind Lies
by MissingMommy
Summary: They all lie at one point, because they are Slytherins. :: Chapter 7: "Because your days together are numbered, has been numbered since the beginning." :: various pairings and relations.
1. DracoGinny

**Pairing: Draco/Ginny**

**Prompt: knight in shining armor**

**For Cherry. I hope I did them justice.**

He isn't a knight in shining armor. His silver armor has long lost its shine and his sword has been missing for a while now. And how can a person be a knight with a missing sword and dull armor?

But in her eyes, he's her knight. To her, it doesn't matter that he doesn't protect her with a sword; because she doesn't need protecting. There's fierceness in her that just burns so brightly it makes her strong enough to deal with anything.

And maybe not all knights are for protecting, he thinks. It's not like she'd let him protect her with a silly sword anyways. Not that he minds; swords aren't really his thing.

It's his dull armor that he worries about. Everyone knows that only _good_ people are knights. And all their armor shines brightly to show the goodness in their heart. Like his armor reflects his heart - it's dull and underused and, try as he might, he _just_ can't polish it.

There's spots of blood caked on his armor, which means that it's attached to his heart as well. And no amount of scrubbing will make it disappear. He's tried. But that doesn't matter. Because she loves him, even though he's given her no reason to. She loves him despite his past.

They're both _hurt_. Maybe that's how they work. And maybe he's really her knight in blood-stained armor. And that's okay; because together, they are making each other better. She's erasing the blood-stains and slowly shining his dull, silver armor.

**A/n – also for the 15 colors competition. My color was silver. **

**Beta'd by Budapest All Over Again.**


	2. LilySeverus

**Pairing: Severus/Lily**

**Prompt: ghost**

It's a game of tug-of-war and you're right in the middle of it. Each side is pulling, pulling, pulling at you, and trying desperately to win. To your right is Lily; oh, lovely, lovely Lily with her beautiful heart and dazzling eyes. And to your left is the darkness, the evil that's lying dormant inside of you.

She doesn't even know that she's pulling you from that, saving you from the monster within. But she is. Every time that she smiles that breathtaking smile, you think that you'll never be like him. You'll never be the mean, bitter man that hates the world with such furious passion.

Then when she's gone, it consumes you. It slips into the darkest part of your mind and fuels you. And you can't stop it. All you can do is sit there and wait for your lovely, lovely Lily to come back to chase away the dark and bring light; to shine so brightly that everything is bathed in it, where there's no trace of the darkness that is still hiding within you.

But you push her away. You whisper the one word that would end this game of tug-of-war – Mudblood. You do it because no matter what, when she's gone, that evil extinguishes all possibilities of being _good_. And lovely, lovely Lily shouldn't be overshadowed by that. So, you let her go. You utter the one word that you vowed never to call her and you let her escape your downward spiral.

There's hurt in her dazzling eyes and that's enough to make you apologize. You lie, though. You tell her that you didn't mean to and you begged for her forgiveness. Even though you know you completely ruined any chance of that; but she doesn't need to know that you sacrificed her for her own good, that you love her enough to do that.

With her gone, you fall so much further than you've ever have. There's not an inch of you that isn't covered in evil. You become the one thing you never wanted to be; you become your father – the mean, bitter man that hates the world with such furious passion. And who you were when you were with lovely, lovely Lily is nothing more than a ghost of a memory.

But strangely, you're okay with that. Because you saved her from your darkness. In amongst of all the terrible things you've done and the even worse things you're sure to do in the future, you were selfless for her sake. And that's something to be proud of.

**A/n – thanks so much to Budapest All Over Again who beta'd this for me, and gave me a few suggestions. **


	3. MarcusVerity

**Pairing: Marcus/Verity**

**Prompt: pride**

Also, for M&MWP drabble with the prompt: stepping out into the world.

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She's all pride and attitude. Her blonde hair is cut short in defiance of her parents and she works in a place that will get her nowhere out of spite. And, Merlin, that girl is trouble, and you know as much from the moment you meet her. But you were been drawn to it. It's like a magnet that is just pulling you in further and you can't prevent it.

You're not supposed to care about her; hell, you're not supposed to care about _anyone._ But she comes in your life and disrupts everything in a moment's notice. She's like a never ending tornado that causes so much irreversible damage to you, and you have no choice but to ride out the storm.

And, Merlin, that girl loves like there's no tomorrow. She's passionate and brash and quirky. _You're not supposed to care_, you tell yourself, over and over again. But your heart doesn't seem to be getting the message. It's the damage done by her tornado, the ability to love again. And you're reluctant to admit that this change may even be for the better; the ice man's heart is finally thawing out.

But you'd never tell her any of this. You'll sit across the room, watching her drink hot coffee and eat freezing strawberry ice cream, and wonder why you're even here, spying on her. And as you step out of the world of make-believe into the world of reality, you promise yourself you won't come back tomorrow.

You come back anyways. And she pretends not to notice.

**A/n – I've restarted this so many times, and I kind of like this one. So many thanks to Budapest All Over Again for beta-ing this for me!**


	4. Avery

**Pairing: Avery**

**Prompt: common room**

For Sylvia. She's been a great beta for me these past few weeks, and really helpful. So Merry Christmas! I wasn't exactly sure what you would want, so I picked something off your birthday fic exchange list – a less known Marauder era character that I've fleshed out.

(I would've written you something about Bill&Charlie siblingness as your present, but I had already written this when you mentioned it!)

It a bit darker than I was expecting but I hope you enjoy anyways, m'dear!

.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Avery asks his companion, fellow sixth year Slytherin, Mulciber. In front of them is a younger Mudblood by herself, walking the halls of the Dungeons. "The Mudblood seems to be lost," he adds on as they approach her.

"Leave me alone," she growls at them.

Smiling, Avery realizes that she's a Gryffindor, because only Gryffindors are stupid enough to say anything to anyone obviously older than themselves, much less older Slytherins. She tries to push pass them, but Avery and Mulciber don't budge. "And where do you think you're going?"

She looks up and meets his steel gray eyes with her own blue ones, not giving into her fear. "I'm heading back to my common room from extra potion lessons. Now, leave me alone!"

"And why would we do that?" Mulciber whispers in her ear. "We're having so much _fun_."

"You wouldn't dare to try anything," she informs them. "Because I'm not afraid to tell."

Her exclamation only serves to make Avery snicker. A smile appears across Mulciber's face and the Mudblood knows that it doesn't matter – they will do whatever they want.

Avery raises his wand to cast a silencing charm around them, because he doesn't want any intruders. Once he's done that, he turns his wand towards his victim. "What shall we do to the Mudblood, Mulciber?" Avery asks. A twisted smile crosses his face at the prospects of the curses they could do to the fourth Gryffindor girl standing in front of them.

She's two years younger than him, but her eyes flicker with defiance. The defiance only serves to make Avery's smile grow. He'll wipe that look completely off her face all in due time.

Mulciber just grins again. "It's been ages since I've had any fun," he says. "I seem to be a little rusty on my curses." Leaning toward the girl once more, Mulciber whispers in her ear loud enough for Avery to hear. "And I'd love to make you _dance_."

The girl still doesn't flinch. She still has a rebellious look in her eyes. But Avery can _smell_ the fear pouring off her, even though she doesn't show it. _Oh, yes,_ he thinks, _this will be fun._ And without another thought, he casts the Cruciatus curse on her.

She bites her lip to refuse them her screams of agony, and Avery can expect no less from a Gryffindor. They always do have to be brave and strong. Avery is rather bored with her refusing to scream for him. He nods towards Mulciber and suddenly, his ears are graced with her screams.

Falling to the ground, she just lets the curses overtake her. And it pleases Avery. He's always enjoyed the rush of emotions he feels when he casts the Cruciatus curse on someone. It's overwhelming and pleasurable, and just a little bit intoxicating. But he doesn't want to kill her. Oh no, that would be too easy. So he lifts the curse and allows her time to get her breathing back.

"Now, I don't expect you to run off and tell anyone about the fun we're having," Avery says off-handedly. "Because the consequences would be grave indeed, and a lot worse than this."

The girl just nods mutely and stands on shaky legs. A couple of seconds later, another girl comes rounding the corner. Avery vaguely recognizes her as the girl that Severus hangs out with. He doesn't want to cause tension between himself and Severus because the kid will come in useful later, so he pockets his wand.

"Oh, Mary! There you are," Severus' friend calls out. As she gets closer, she takes in her friend's shaking appearance and eyes Avery and Mulciber suspiciously. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

The girl shakes her head. "I'm fine, Lily. Let's get out of here. I have a bunch of studying to do," she replies to her friend. Her voice is a little rough from her screams and it just serves to anger Lily. As the red-headed girl walks away, she throws a glare over her shoulder.

"A shame our fun ended so soon," Mulciber says, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Avery watches until the two girls have turned down a different hallway. "A shame indeed."


	5. BlaiseDraco

Pairing: Blaise/Draco

Prompt: in the end, it doesn't matter

Written for the Snakes and Ladders challenge where I had Blaise Zabini.

For Paula, because this is all her fault!

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He comes to your bed, shirtless and blond hair messy. As he climbs in your bed and captures your lips with his own, he doesn't speak and neither do you. It's rough, all teeth and tongue and scratch marks, with only the soft sounds of groans filling the air. When you are both spent, he doesn't spare you a glance as he gets up.

You watch as he gathers his pants and trousers, swearing to yourself that it won't happen again, that it ends tonight. But it never does. Because some small part of you needs him and it infuriates you. You've never needed anyone in your life.

You need him because he makes you _feel_. Makes you feel things you haven't felt in years – desirable, needed, _alive_. Things that you thought you would never experience.

In the end, though, it doesn't matter because feelings like these could never actually thrive in a Pureblood society. While neither of you are in arranged marriages, you both are expected to marry a proper Pureblood girl to further your families. You know this as well as he does.

So you press a kiss to his naked shoulder and speak for the first time.

"Don't come back."

He doesn't listen. He comes back the next night and the night after that. And you never complain because you love it, even if you shouldn't. Because it will end eventually. But when it does, you wonder what it will do to the small part of you that has come to need him.

**A/n – so many thanks to Joanna for beta-ing this for me. You are amazing, dear! **


	6. RegulusSirius

For Camp Potter – First aid with the prompts tremble, in the shadows and fragile.

For out of your comfort zone comp – Regulus with the prompt in the end.

For the Favorite house boot camp – fragile.

Warnings: Incest

Word count: 460

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You push open the door to your brother's room as quietly as you can. You see him there, curled up under a deep emerald blanket, but you can tell by the unsteady rise and fall of his chest that he isn't asleep. He was waiting for you.

You slide into the bed next to him, praying to Merlin that he doesn't notice the tremble in your bones. You had stood in front of his door for a while, trying to calm yourself; but in the end, you couldn't get rid of the tremble of your muscles, the pain embedded there by _that_ curse. Usually, on nights like these, you sleep in your own room, because you don't want your brother to find out what really happens when you get in trouble.

But, tonight, you need comfort that only he can provide. So you risk everything, risk crumbling the reality that you have carefully built for him, because you need a reason not to completely break apart and he is that reason.

He wraps his arm around your waist and rests his head on your shoulder, causing you to flinch, which doesn't go unnoticed. "Siri," he whispers, concerned. You can hear the questions that he doesn't speak, the questions that he doesn't want to ask in his tone.

You shake your head. "Don't," you command before the questions can come tumbling out of his mouth. Because if he asks them, you'll have to answer and it will break this fragile reality into pieces. "Just…don't." He attempts to protest, but you cut him off with a hard kiss. "Drop it, Reg," you beg softly. "Go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

He forces you to meet a familiar pair of silver eyes. He's searching for something; what that is, you don't know. After a few moments, he lies his head back down on your chest. You feel him murmur, "I love you," against it. They're words that you know you're not supposed to hear, so you say nothing back.

You wait until his breathing evens out and his grip on your waist slackens before you whisper, "I'm sorry." Sorry you can't tell him that you love him, that he's your reason for holding on for so long. Sorry that he isn't enough to keep you together. Sorry that you might crash and burn, despite his desperate attempts to save you, and that you might just take everything he's ever known with you.

Because the cracks that you've sustained in the shadows of the night grow in the daylight, and he's not enough to repair you. You're going to break. And there's nothing that can be done about it. You just hope that he makes it out unharmed.


	7. RodolphusRabastan

Pairing: Rodolphus/Rabastan

Prompt: last kiss

For the Ultimate Pairing Drabble comp with the prompt numbered.

You press your lips to the top of his head as he lies against your chest. You feel the steady rise and fall of his chest, reminding you that he is still breathing. It's night likes these, where he falls asleep quickly, that you just watch him sleep. Because your days together are numbered, has been numbered since the beginning.

You both are expected to marry well to further your family. And your betrothal is of the marrying age so tomorrow you will be a married man. You had known this wouldn't last, but you had thrown away reason and just let yourself have him.

You love him. He means everything in the world to you, and it doesn't matter that you will be married because you are completely his. And he knows this.

Shifting him, you slide out from his bed. Before you exit the room, you glance back at his sleeping form. He looks put out, curling around a pillow for the comfort that you really shouldn't be providing him. You whisper, "Love you," before shutting the door.

As you make your way back to your room, you toss and turn on the bed, unable to find sleep. Being married will change your relationship with your brother. You won't be able to sneak into his room at night and hold him until he falls asleep. You won't even be living in the same house as him any longer.

But it's all for your family – the marriage – so you will suffer through it, knowing that you will never love your wife in the way that you love him.


End file.
